Le Bruit de la Chute 1975

Pierre Alechinsky made "Le Bruit de la Chute" with paint, possibly acrylics, judging by the bright, slightly chalky feel of the colors. It looks like he was feeling his way through the image, letting one color inform the next. The paint is applied kind of flat, and the surface has a matte quality that makes you want to reach out and touch it, though I wouldn’t recommend it! There’s this great contrast between the fluid, washy strokes of the greens and yellows and the more defined, graphic elements like the waterfall studies at the bottom. Look at that little face hovering near the center, almost like a ghostly apparition. It is rendered in thin strokes, and feels vulnerable against the bolder, more confident gestures surrounding it. It reminds me a little of Philip Guston's later work, where figuration and abstraction collide in a playful, yet unsettling way. It's as if Alechinsky is reminding us that art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth between seeing and feeling.